Page:Linda Hazzard - Fasting for the cure of disease.djvu/211

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actions of the man throughout, together with the contents of a letter found on his person, were evidence that decided lack of mental balance existed, and search of his effects brought to light numbers of long, rambling, scribbled comments that left no doubt concerning mental decay. The body was in shape such that post mortem examination was possible, and the autopsy revealed the following: The kidneys were normal. The lungs and the heart were congested, but functionally equal to their tasks. The liver was cirrhosed, and there was only a rudimentary gall sac, not larger than the first joint of the adult index finger, containing no bile and with no evidence that it had been functioning, since no stain was present, and the color of the sac was a perfect white. The stomach was enlarged to the capacity of four fluid quarts, and it lay in the abdominal cavity opposite the navel; it was filled with food, and all evidences pointed to the fact that glandular function had been inoperative for months. The small intestines were tangled and knotted into a mass, with bleached portions that had been inactive for a long time. The colon was excessively dilated, and its transverse section had fallen, shaping the organ